colonel

an officer of high rank in the army, the marines, or the US air forceColonel Jim EdgeSee related entries:The army,The air forceWord Originmid 16th cent.: from obsolete Frenchcoronel (earlier form of colonel), from Italiancolonnello

‘column of soldiers’

, from colonna

‘column’

, from Latincolumna. The form coronel, source of the modern pronunciation, was usual until the mid 17th cent.